First off, I need to compliment you for selecting a transgender woman to be the latest face of your wonderfully charitable Viva Glam line. Prior to today, I would say that despite some very public missteps, Caitlyn Jenner was an obvious choice for this campaign. She might not have been everyone’s first choice to represent the trans community, but given how high profile a life Caitlyn has lived, she was and still is clearly the most obvious person in the community with a chance to win the hearts and minds of people that have never considered trans community at all and bring a much needed awareness.
Any credibility she had as a spokeswoman ended yesterday when Caitlyn endorsed Senator Ted Cruz as her pick to be the next President of the United States. Caitlyn’s enthusiasm for Senator Cruz is a slap in the face to the LGBT community and to all the progress it has made during the current administration. In November, Senator Cruz said in a radio interview that, “the federal government is going after school districts, trying to force them to let boys shower with little girls” and insinuated that the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter was a transgender person, a baseless, demonizing charge aimed to distract from the issues of the day . In addition to being no friend of the trans community, Cruz has a dreadful record when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, having called homosexuality a choice and having worked very strongly against marriage equality.
Caitlyn Jenner may live in a world where her money and fame can insulate her from the efforts of politicians and theocrats like Senator Cruz, but there are far too many people in the trans community who cannot. The mere fact that she thinks she could be his “Trans Ambassador”, not to mention thinks he would actually want anyone to fill a position like that, shows that she is not living in a reality that the rest of her transgender brothers and sisters presently reside in.
So I am merely speaking for myself in this instance, my views do not necessarily represent anyone else on this website, but I am calling on you, as a company that I have great respect for, to reevaluate its relationship with Caitlyn Jenner for the very good of the community this collection is aimed at serving. When boxer Manny Pacquiao made some horrible anti-gay statements recently, Nike, a company with which he had a lucrative sponsorship, acted swiftly and unequivocally by firing him from his endorsement deal. While Caitlyn’s words were not nearly as vile, a Ted Cruz presidency would have a much more devastating and have long lasting effects on the LGBT community.
The stakes are too high for a community that you have long been a strong supporter of, and a community that has strongly supported you back. I am not asking for a phony apology from Caitlyn, where she stands is clear and what is clear is that at this time, she is no friend of the LGBT community. I am asking for you to end this relationship with her at this time. There are plenty of other worthy figures in the trans community that would be wonderful representatives for this great honor, people who believe in their hearts that ALL people deserve to be “Finally Free”, not just a select privileged few. Thank you for your time.
